Brazilian archbishop who opposed dictatorship is buried
SAO PAULO: Hundreds of Brazilians packed the Sao Paulo cathedral Friday for the funeral of Evaristo Arns, a much-loved former archbishop who won fame for resisting Brazil’s military dictatorship.
The cathedral in the heart of the country’s biggest city was full for the elaborate Catholic rites which were also carried live on national television ahead of the body of the Sao Paulo archbishop and cardinal being laid to rest in the cathedral’s crypt.
Arns, who died Wednesday at 95 after complications linked to pneumonia, was a priest for 71 years but is revered in Brazil above all as someone who stood up to the two decades-long rightwing dictatorship – and supported the vulnerable of all stripes.
Heavy media coverage emphasized his continuing weight in a society currently beset by political rancor, corruption scandals, high crime rates and recession.
Among those attending Arns’s funeral were leftist former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Clarice Herzog, the widow of Vladimir Herzog, who was a journalist and communist when he was tortured to death under the military regime, G1 news site reported.
Eder Oliveira, a 29-yearold legal assistant, said he had come several times to attend Arns’s wake since Wednesday, before joining a group standing outside the cathedral to watch on television screens.
“Don Evaristo was a very important person for Brazil. He was very religious, strengthening our faith and being an example for everyone,” Oliveira said.
After being ordained in 1945, Arns studied at Sorbonne University in Paris and began a prolific writing career that included authoring 57 books.
As he rose through the ecclesiastical ranks, he made his name promoting programs dedicated to helping the poor.
However, it was for his stand against torture during the 1964-1985 military dictatorship that he became most famous. — AFP